EMACS.INF -- Using the EMACS Editor with a Z88 Terminal
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     I have been able to set up the Emacs editor on our SUN 3/60
workstation to do full screen editing on the Z88. The method used 
should work on any Unix system.
 
     First, I should explain about the SUN. The SUN is usually 
perceived as a powerful single-user Unix-based workstation with a 
large multi-window display. However, SUNs are designed to be 
networked together via ethernet, and this capability provides 
remote logins from non-SUN terminals. 

     As in any Unix system, a large number of different types of 
terminals are supported, with the characteristics of the
different terminals described in the "termcap" file.
 
     To run Emacs with the Z88, I copied the system termcap file 
from /usr/etc to my home directory and then modified my private 
copy of termcap to support the Z88. Since the Z88 has a built-in 
VT52 terminal emulator, I located the termcap entry for the DEC 
VT52 terminal, made a second copy of the vt52 entry and changed 
the entry li#24 to li#8. I then changed the title line of the new 
termcap entry to read:
 
z8|z88|Cambridge Z88 portable, like dec vt52, with 8-line screen:\
 
     I add the following line to my SUN .login file to tell the 
system to use my private copy of termcap when I login over the 
network.
 
     setenv TERMCAP ~/termcap
 
     Normally, I am using a VT100 emulator when using the SUN via 
remote login, and my private copy of termcap has the original,
unmodified VT100 entry. The SUN has been told to assume that I am 
using a VT100 when I login over the network. If I am using the
Z88, I type the following command to tell the system to use the 
Z88 terminal profile for all functions:
 
     setenv TERM z88
 
     Standard Unix functions like "more" now know the terminal 
has 8 lines, and the Emacs editor also works very well. I cannot 
get Emacs to do vertical windows (one on top of the other) on the 
Z88 screen. I get an "out of range" error message. However, I can
do horizontal windows (two side-by-side) without any problem.

     One advantage of Emacs is that the default version does not 
use any of the special function keys on the real VT52, so the 
lack of these keys on the Z88 is no problem. All editing is done 
with Control-key or Escape-key sequences. I don't particularly 
like the default keys chosen by the author, but they are the same 
on all versions of Emacs. You can redefine the editing keys to 
match your favorite editor if you like. 

     We are using GNU Emacs, which is free, but not in the public
domain. You are allowed to copy it for free. According to the 
license, I can send you a copy. You can also get a copy over the
Internet computer network. The following is copied from the Emacs 
manual. "If you have access to the Internet, you can get the 
latest distribution version of GNU Emacs from host 
'prep.ai.mit.edu' using anonymous login. See the file 
'/u2/emacs/GETTING.GNU.SOFTWARE' on that host to find out about 
your options for copying and which files to use."

     You can also get Emacs directly from:

     Free Software Foundation
     675 Mass Ave
     Cambridge, MA 02139

     The software is free, but Free Software charges a 
distribution fee if you order a copy through them. I do not know 
what the fee is.  

     While I have only tested this on the SUN, it should work on 
all Unix systems. I am running the C-shell under 4.2 BSD UNIX. 
The commands for setting the terminal type and establishing the
local copy of termcap may be different under different versions 
of Unix.

     GNU Emacs is also available for DEC VAX computers operating
under VMS. We have Emacs on our VMS VAX and I have copied and
modified the termcap.dat file, but have not yet figured out how
to get Emacs to use my private copy instead of the system copy.

Vic Roberts
May 28, 1989